EndoPro Magazinecover story: If you are thinking about expanding, relocating or renovating your endoscopy center or department, there are several key space planning concepts, regulatory requirements, trends, options and features that should be considered before anyone puts pen to paper or sets a project budget.
Given the impact that the current pandemic has had on the ability for many endoscopists to see patients and the use of some endoscopy centers for surge capacity, pandemic resiliency should also be factored into the planning.
Click the cover image for the full article by John Fowler, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, Healthcare Studio leader at Margulies Perruzzi.
For more information and photos of 50 Staniford Street, property featured in this article, click here.
MP recently published “VOLUME 1: COVID-19 AND THE FUTURE OF THE WORKPLACE
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?” Download by clicking here.
We have news to report. The data is in on business trends for the annual Interior Design Rising Giants, the 100 largest firms after our top 100 Giants. However, there’s a catch: It’s 2020. Which means our entire world is in various stages of flux—actually, upheaval may be a better word. No one knows what will happen next week, let alone next year. So while these new numbers can give you a fine idea of what kind of year the Rising Giants had in 2019, all bets are off on guessing how the design industry and the economy overall will weather the rest of 2020 and beyond.
As the stay-at-home mandates are lifted, corporate America is evaluating how to maintain safety measures within their current office space. From rearranging furniture to implementing one-way traffic flow patterns, and providing additional cleaning supplies, tenants and landlords are looking at office spaces and office cultures like never before. But are corporate offices equipped with the right infrastructure to support these changes? More specifically, do our office spaces and buildings have the means to store hazardous materials in abundance? Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizers are often a Class III flammable liquid and their use and storage are regulated by the Massachusetts building code.
Local building and fire codes regulate the maximum quantity of hazardous materials allowed in a building. We’ve taken a closer look at the code implications of increasing hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies in office spaces and recommend developing a Hazardous Materials Management Plan (HMMP) (or update the existing plan) to incorporate any additional hand sanitizer and ensure compliance with these provisions. These plans are also critical to the local fire department and other emergency response teams as the plans will provide the necessary information for fire-fighting and emergency response operations. A chemical inventory including type and quantity of hazardous materials should be maintained by each tenant. We recommend landlords revisit lease agreements and consider adding language to address storage of hazardous materials and to define allowed quantities for each tenant space. Communication between tenants and landlords is critical to maintain compliance and life safety requirements for the building occupants.
Jason B. Costello AIA, EDAC, is a Partner | Associate Principal and leads the Healthcare design practice at Margulies Perruzzi.
More information and articles published from the MP Healthcare studio posted regularly.
MP recently published “VOLUME 1: COVID-19 AND THE FUTURE OF THE WORKPLACE
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?” Download by clicking here.
Across the country, we are seeing numerous changes at healthcare facilities as they reopen for elective and non-critical care while still addressing potential surge capacity issues related to COVID-19. One of the biggest difficulties is getting into and through these facilities while practicing social distancing and minimizing risk to patients and staff.
MP’s John Fowler, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, is featured in Healthcare Design – Healthcare facilities are employing a variety of strategies and tactics, including technology, to overcome the challenges of reopening amid COVID-19. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3iZms9r
MP has a long-standing tradition of Friday afternoon “snacks” where the entire office gets together to socialize, discuss projects, decompress and sometimes even vent about the stressful days. Our “beer thirty” often continues well into the evening where the laughter from great conversations among colleagues is amplified with cold drinks and the waterfront view of the city skyline from our roof deck.
But what happens when the world shuts down and hanging out on a Friday is no longer an option? Well let me start by telling you, it isn’t the same as human interaction. Look at this photo of us from the spring, the beginning of Covid-19; we are all so naïve. In a daily effort to keep sane and maintain connections, I had virtual meet and greets, coffees, and face-times. Then we all got exhausted. As some of you may already know, I am a social person, and I was over it.
Zoom fatigue is real. What is the last thing any of us want to do at the end of a long week? Sit on another call. But sometimes it may surprise you that yet another call marking this long-standing tradition, turns out to be just the thing you needed that week to help get you through. So keep going. Keep snacking virtually; and keep playing cards against humanity, drinking games, Pictionary and trivia with your coworkers because a good laugh is worth everything right now.
The first “snack” back in person is going to be one for the books, and we have that to look forward to when we pop online Friday afternoons until then. Someday the pandemic will end, we will be back to normal, and as Dan Perruzzi puts it in our daily email check ins – we are one day closer to that.
Bob Humenn, Director of Healthcare Strategy at Margulies Perruzzi, has spent more time at hospitals over the past few weeks than he’s spent at home. He is helping them increase the number of beds, create “pop-up” clinics, and set up testing sites. According to Bob, “it is humbling to see the dedication of healthcare workers putting their health and lives at risk every day. While you’re there, it makes you wish that you could do more.”
According to Bob, the Department of Public Health (DPH) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have been very accommodating, issuing blanket waivers to allow hospitals to create testing sites and pop-up clinics in non-clinical areas and to add beds in alternative locations such as recovery areas instead of private rooms. Bob has worked with Milford Regional Medical Center for twenty years and is one of the hospitals that Bob has assisted in addressing COVID-19 through the following strategic initiatives.
Emergency Department Patients To handle an influx in emergency department patients with COVID-19 symptoms, Margulies Perruzzi worked with Hospital staff to create an Alternate Treatment Area (ATA) in the parking area directly below the Emergency Department (ED). Walk-in ED patients will be triaged at the entry vestibule for Covid-19 symptoms and if appropriate, they will be sent down to the ATA for testing and treatment. The ATA has twenty bays for treatment and space for portable x-ray. The goal is rapid assessment, testing, and discharge within an hour of arrival. Margulies Perruzzi provided guidance on patient flow, regulatory guidelines and design and the ATA was constructed by Consigli Construction using a modular wall system. Cubicle curtains are free-standing and created from electrical conduit for the frame and curtain.
Inpatient Beds Guided by the directives issued by The Department of Public Health and CMS, Margulies Perruzzi worked with Milford Regional to develop a strategic plan for the anticipated surge of hospital patients. COVID-19 patients will be grouped in existing medical/surgical, progressive care and intensive care nursing units. If needed, non-COVID-19 ICU patients will be cared for in the PACU, using two bays to provide needed clearance between patients, while other non-COVID-19 patients will be cared for in alternate areas such as Infusion and Endoscopy.
Patients Requiring Post-Acute Rehabilitation There may be patients that are recovering from COVID-19 and would normally be discharged to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). If the SNF is not able to admit a COVID-19 patient, MRMC is prepared to rehabilitate these patients. The Hospitalists, Nursing and Rehabilitation Services collaborated to develop a plan to manage patients requiring physical, occupational and speech therapies in order to maximize the patient’s abilities to move from hospital to home. Margulies Perruzzi worked with MRMC staff to develop options for temporary transitional care units for these patients. The main goal will be ensuring the patients continue to regain their strength in order to return to their baseline before discharge home.
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the design of health care facilities. The dynamic nature of the pandemic has required our teams to be flexible and highly creative in addressing the needs of our clients in support of those healthcare providers on the front lines. As we ride the flattened curve of infection our focus is shifting to the safe re-activation of the healthcare system to begin seeing non-emergency cases, primary care visits and elective procedures to a broad range of healthcare facilities that until recently have been prepared for COVID-19 patient over flow. Margulies Perruzzi is working to develop strategies utilizing infection control measures and design flexibility to address the complexities of reactivating the hospital in the coming weeks and to better position our community for future pandemics .
This space was designed for maximum flexibility to accommodate the changing needs of the COVID-19 pandemic.*closer view* Space designed for maximum flexibility to accommodate the changing needs of COVID-19 pandemic.
More information and articles published from the MP Healthcare studio posted regularly.
Additionally, The AIA COVID-19 Task Force (including MP’s John Fowler) has published tools to assess and catalog the adaptive reuse of buildings as Alternative Care Sites. We are extremely grateful for all of the hard work and sacrifice healthcare professionals are putting in on the front lines of this pandemic and are looking for more ways to support them whenever we can.
MP recently published a report with survey results, “COVID-19 AND THE FUTURE OF THE WORKPLACE WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?” Download by clicking here.
The other night I had the opportunity to share with the architecture community some tools and recommendations on how to work remotely through a webinar hosted by the Boston Society of Architects (BSA). We were asked to participate as we’ve been incorporating remote working into our workflow for a number of years already so were fairly well prepared to transition our entire staff to remote working when the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated it.
We had initially set up a virtual private network (VPN) on our firewall to create a secure connection for people that needed flexibility to work from home when they had family obligations to attend to during the business day. When the winter of 2015 delivered back-to-back snowstorms every weekend, we increased access and encouraged more staff to connect and have productive days despite the snow-covered streets.
To ensure the security of our client’s project data, everything is stored on our network. When connecting in, the same security and virus protection software we use in the office is installed on the users’ home computer. Over the past couple weeks, we have had our staff test their home connections to ensure that if the time came to work remotely full-time, we would all be prepared. We scheduled a stress test on the system to track how much bandwidth was used to better understand any limits that could affect our productivity.
Along with the hardware testing, we started encouraging all staff to practice communicating internally with Skype for Business, even if the person was within talking distance. We selected Skype because we have about a dozen of our millennial staff who have been using it and they could help share their knowledge with others to facilitate the implementation and it had already been installed with our recent Office 365 upgrades.
Change is tough. Making major changes in how we work and the technology we use are especially tough when your staff encompasses several generations. We wanted to be cautious about making too many new moves when it is already a stressful time. Choosing platforms where staff could get help from others internally was intentional. While we have external IT support, now more than ever, it’s important to encourage supporting each other.
For the generation of staff (and clients) that prefer face-to-face connections, we increased our licenses so that video conferencing is available to anyone who wants to use it. Our internal message board has become an active place to share information on both what is working well and what has had some challenges. Where we have found gaps that needed a new format for remote working, we have started using new platforms. The underlying theme here is to be open to provide alternate solutions that support how people prefer to work and having open communication.
At the close of the webinar we were asked to share our key takeaways. We had covered lots of technical information, costs and comparisons of software and hardware, work methods, communication tools, but my takeaway was much simpler than all of that. Everyone at MP genuinely loves what they do, and we enjoy doing the work we do WITH each other. We need to reinforce these basic principles while we are working away from one another. We need to remind ourselves of the importance of this human connection. It is not just about being connected to share our work and collaborate with one another, but it is equally important to continue to share our lives with one another.
Architecture Firms and Remote Work’ was a virtual program hosted by the Boston Society of Architects on March 17. The free program welcomed over 375 members of the architectural community from across the country. The recording of this program is available for viewing at www.architects.org
Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program is first and largest private-sector clinic in the nation with reimagined and responsive design
BOSTON, Jan. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, today announced that its high performance clinical workplace design for the Home Base Veteran and Family Care Center has been honored with awards from CoreNet Global New England and IFMA Boston. Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, received the CoreNet Global New England 2019 Award of Excellence, Best New Small Workplace and the IFMA Boston 2019 Best Practice Award of Excellence, Medium Project. A video of the Home Base project can be viewed here.
https://youtu.be/5xifziDdCnc
Completed in 2018, Home Base’s new 26,422 SF facility in Charlestown, Mass. doubles the organization’s program capacity and delivers a broad range of key innovations to its facility design, providing the space and resources needed to significantly enhance the mental healthcare and support services provided to U.S. service members, veterans, and their families dealing with “invisible wounds.” The new facility also combines wellness, nutrition and fitness into a first-of-its-kind brain health center.
Founded in 2009, Home Base is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds, such as traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, and related mental health conditions, forveterans, service members,and their families through world-class clinical care, wellness, education, and research. Home Base’s touted “National Center of Excellence” reflects a powerful, national shift in the delivery of clinical care and design for the patient experience.
“Home Base is the first and largest private-sector clinic in the nation devoted to helping at-risk veterans and military families regain the lives they once had. Our new home allows us to finally match the top quality of care at Home Base with the space and environment that surrounds it,” said Home Base Executive Director Brigadier General (ret.) Jack Hammond. “As our design partner, MP collaborated with us through an evolutionary process of discovery to create this new center, enabling us to scale our innovative and effective approach to mental health and brain injury care for more veterans, service members, and their families.”
About Margulies Perruzzi As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health+Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor.
New collaborative, technology-rich workspace supports productivity for rapidly growing property management software company
Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, announced today that it has completed the new headquarters for Buildium, the real estate industry’s leading property and association management solution. The 38,000 SF office, located at 3 Center Plaza in downtown Boston, features a dynamic, technology-rich workspace that promotes collaboration among Buildium’s 200+ employees (with room to add 100 more). MP provided space planning and interior design services for the fast-tracked interior design and fit-out for the rapidly growing property management software company.
“The move to a new headquarters aligns with our long-term plans for growth and expansion, and provides us with a vibrant office environment for every work function,” said Mary Dempsey, operations supervisor at Buildium. “From the start of this accelerated project, MP had our best interests in mind and enabled us to make quick decisions, with realistic outcomes, to address our space needs, technology requirements, and collaborative workstyle. MP created a new headquarters beyond our wildest dreams, and our employees were speechless on day one in the new space. We couldn’t be happier.”
With an energetic and modern vibe, the colorful, light-filled workspace enhances employee interaction and collaboration. This focus drove the design as multiple office locations were merging into one space. The open concept office design locates workstations on the perimeter and offers a variety of technology-enabled meeting rooms, huddle areas, and collaboration spaces at the core. The design balances focused workspace with collaboration areas, including a meeting room with unique stadium seating. Open ceilings maximize the daylight from the tall perimeter windows, allowing light to permeate throughout the open office.
A centrally located café, called the “back porch,” offers casual seating and an exciting atmosphere that provides an informal space for staff to work, meet, and socialize, and additionally functions as a town hall meeting space. MP carefully designed a palette that distinctly emphasizes the core as intimate meeting space, while embodying Buildium’s brand and culture through pops of brand colors, environmental graphics, and design elements that were heavily influenced by their logo and website.
Completed on an accelerated project schedule, MP performed full design, from schematic through construction documents, in just eight weeks, about half the time as a standard project of this scale. Elaine Construction provided turnkey construction management services for the Buildium project.
About Buildium
Buildium is the only property management solution that helps real estate professionals win new business from property owners and community associations seeking services. Backed by expert advice and relentless support, Buildium enables you to outperform across all facets of your business with intuitive software that balances power, simplicity, and ease of use. Buildium services customers in more than 50 countries, totaling over 1.9 million residential units under management. In 2015, Buildium acquired All Property Management, a leading online marketing service for property managers, making Buildium the only company to give property managers a way to acquire new customers and increase revenue. For more information, visit Buildium.com, and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health+Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at http://mparchitectsboston.com.
